Printing-plate and method of producing and finishing such plates.



W. M. WOOD.

PRINTING PLATE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING AND FINISHING SUCH PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I8, me. I

Patent-ed Dec. 17,1918.

UNITED STATES ATNT FFIQE.

WILLIAM M. WOOD, OF NEW BRIGHTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO B. HOE AND 00., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PRINTING-PLATE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING AND FINISHING SUCH PLATES.

Application filed December 18, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. 7001), a citizen of the United States, residing at New Brighton, county of Richmond, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing- Plates and Methods of Producing and Finishing Such Plates, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in methods of trimming or finishing unfinished or partly finished printing plates, particularly electrotype and stereotype plates in which the plate is formed in the making thereof with a margin or margins which are thereafter trimmed off to finish the plate, and to improvements in such plates.

Printing plates formed with margins which have to be trimmed ofi' are, in addition to trimming, subjected to other operations, depending on whether they are to be used on a flat bed machine or a rotary press. When used flat, the margins have to be accurately trimmed with respect to the type matter on the plate. Heretofore, to properly effect the trimming of the plate, at least two gaging operations were necessary, one for efiecting the trimming of two opposite sides or ends of the plate, and another for the two opposite sides or ends of the plate. This required considerable time and great accuracy on the part of the operator, particularly where several hundred plates had to be trimmed the same, as in the case of book plates Furthermore, in addition to these trimming operations, if the plate was to be used on a cylinder, which is ordinarily the case where the plate is used for magazine work,the plate had to be bent.

In the operation of bending the plate as now carried out, it is necessary for the operator to first accurately true up one edge of the plate, which is then held against a guide-bar of the plate-bending cylinder. This requires time and great accuracy on the part of the operator.

It is the especial object of the present invention to produce an unfinished or partly finished plate, in which there are formed what may be termed registering guides which will mechanically cooperate with suita l h ld g device either the t imm ng Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

Serial No. 137,526.

mechanism or the plate-bending mechanism used during the subsequent trimming or finishing operation, and enable the plate to be readily positioned accurately with respect to such devices, so that after these registering guides have once been formed in the plate, the plate being gaged once for this purpose, the plate does not thereafter have to be registered or gaged during the trimming or finishing operation, thus dispensing with one or more hand registering operations and avoiding possibility of error in the subsequent trimming or finishing operations.

It will be understood that as hereinafter defined in the specification and claims, the words trimming and finishing will include removing the margins of the plates and the operation of bending the plate where such operation is to be performed.

Figure 1 is a plan view of an electrotype or stereotype plate, with two gages diagrammatically shown broken away for cooperating with one form of registering guides located in a margin of the plate;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly broken away, showing a different form of guides;

- Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing astill different form; Fig. 4c is a section showing the finished plate Fig. 5 is a section of the plate, showing the plate before the margin is removed, and

Fig.'6 is a diagrammatic plan view, partly broken away, showing one step in the operation of finishing a plate, this figure indicating a plate cooperating with suitable holding devices and having its short edges trimmed to remove the margins,

Referring now to these drawings, the invention has been illustrated in the production of a stereotype or electrotype printing plate 1, which is formed, as shown, with four margins a, b, 0, and cl, which have to be trimmed ofi' to completely finish the plate, and which may be termed trimming margins, .and with matter indicated by the letters c and 7 formed on the printing face thereof.

In finishing such printing plate, the trimming margins are trimmed or cut away, only enough being left to form a clamping edge which may be formed if desired, as indicated at g in Fig. 4c, with a bevel to enable the plate to be clamped to the bed or cylinder by the usual clamping devices. The edges are trimmed as closely as possible to the type line of the plate, and to enable this to be accurately done so as to insure the type matter to be in proper position with respect to the edges of the plate, great care is neces sary in positioning the plate for the trimming operation, and, furthermore, where a large number of identical plates are cast, the same careful registry of each plate for trimming has to be observed. In accordance with the invention, the operator performs what may be termed one preliminary gaging operation, that is, he gages the plate for trimming in both directions. hen there are produced registering guides formed at one edge of the plate, these guides being so located with respect to the matter on the surface of the plate that when the plate is subjected to the trimming or finishing operation, as in a suitable trimming machine, these guides will cooperate with suitable p0- sitioning devices in the machine, and will assure the proper position of the plate with respect to the cutters or trimmers, and all the margins of the plate will be accurately trimmed without further gaging by the op erator.

The particular form of these guides may be varied, but they preferably will be of such character that they will cooperate with the stops of the machine to hold the plate in registered relation while being trimmed or finished. As shown in Fig. l and preferably they will be wedge or V-shaped cuts or slots 3, cut. in from the edge, but they may be circular holes punched in the margin, as shown in Fig. 2 or rectangular and cut in from the edge, as shown in Fig. 3, but it will be understood that the term guides covers all such forms, and that any other suitable or desirable configuration may be employed. These cuts or holes are shown as extending all the way, through the thickness of the plate, but this is not necessary, as they may be of different depths. These cuts or holes or slots 8 are positioned at one margin or edge of the plate and preferably are, illustrated, two in number, towardeach end of the edge or margin, thus acting to hold the plate in registered relation with the stops 2 of the trimming machine, preventing slip of the plate and insuring accuracy of trim of all the plates in which, the indentations are so placed. The location of these guides may be varied, of course. depending on the particular amount of trim desired to give a plate. Where, as in electrotypeoor stereotype plates, it-is frequently desirable to produce a plurality of plates having the same type mattenthese guides are preferably ;form'ed in a definite relation to a portion of this matter,which has the same position in all the plates. The heading of such a plate is shown in Fig. 1, Where the type matter 6 represents the heading of the plate and is constant as to its position on such plate. The plate is gaged so that the notches are punched or cut in the margins of successive plates always in the same place, so that in the subsequent finishing and trimming operations one adjustment of the stops in the machine will do for a number of plates, and all the plates will be trimmed exactly the same, this effecting a considerable saving in time, particularly in book work. 7

With a plate having these guides produced in this way, a very accurate trimming or finishing of the plate may be effected, a considerable saving in time in the trimming operation made, and liability of error in registering eliminated.

While the invention has been shown and described in its preferred form, it willbe understood that other forms of guides may be employed, and that the invention is not to be limited to the exact forms shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of trimming or finishing unfinished printing plates which consists in performing one preliminary gaging of the plate and then forming registering guides at one side of the plate shaped to cooperate with suitable finishing or trimming devices for registering the plate in proper relation with such devices, and thereafter without further gaging trimming or finishing the plate while registered by the guides.

2. The method of trimming or finishing unfinished printing plates which consists in performing one preliminary gaging of the plate and then forming registering guides at one side of theplat'e shaped to cooperate with suitable finishing or trimming devices for holding the plate in proper relation with such devices, and thereafter without further gaging trimming or finishlng the plate while held in registered relation with the trimming or finishing devices. p The method of trimming or finishing unfinished printing plates which onsists in producing a plate having margins to be sub.-

sequently' -removed, performing one ,preliminary gaging operatiomand then producing in one of the edges a plurality of indents or cuts shaped to cooperate with trimming or finishing devices to position the plate. and

relation with such devices during the operthe finishing or trimming devices for holdation of trimming or finishing a plate. ing said plate in proper registered relation 5. A printing plate having formed in one With such devices during the operation of 10 edge a plurality of Wedge-shaped registertrimming or finishng a plate. 5 ing slots formed in predetermined relation In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set to type matter on the plate surface and suitmy hand. ably shaped to receive the stops or gages of WILLIAM M. WOOD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

